Flocking to Oktoberfest

Suzie Harrison

The recent downpour of rain didn’t deter members of the Laguna

Community Concert Band’s rehearsal this week, in fact everyone was

early and ready to go preparing for Oktoberfest at Tivoli Too!

Community concert band President Carol Reynolds is looking forward

to bringing Oktoberfest back to life in Laguna Beach.

“I put [Oktoberfest] in the grant I wrote,” Reynolds said. “So the

city is a part of this, it’s part of the cultural arts funding from

the hotel/BID tax. I think it caught their fancy because there hadn’t

been one for so long.”

It has been about 10 years since the last Oktoberfest in Laguna.

That one was sponsored by the Exchange Club according to Sande St.

John. This time she is the business and community liaison for the

event.

“It used to be at the Festival of Arts and this will be the first

year at Tivoli Too!,” she said.

Band member Bill Sharp said it will be a great revival of

Oktoberfest.

“We’ve been rehearsing for a couple of months,” Sharp said. “We’re

also going to have some good outside community bands play with us at

the event.”

Reynolds said they’ll be playing songs that are different from the

band’s usual repertoire.

“It will be all light with songs like the ‘Chicken Dance,’ ‘The

Symphonic Beatles’ and ‘Someone to Watch Over Me,’” Reynolds said.

“We’ve got some really awesome people in the band, everyone is a

volunteer.”

Niko Theris has been in the Laguna Community Concert Band since

its inception six years ago.

Other performance highlights, Reynolds said, will include some

great soloists, the German American Brass Band of Southern

California, the Orange Symphonic Band and the Golden West Pops Band.

St. John said one of her roles is to bring in nonprofit

organizations who will have their own booths. Seniors Inc. will have

home-baked goods, and artist Suzanne Short will be offering coupons

to the Sawdust Art Festival.

“The kid’s will love Miss Linda’s Castle’s puppet shows, and the

big costume contests for the kids,” St. John said.

St. John urges parents to have their children wear a costume.

She said all the children will get a prize and there will be

category prizes awarded to adults.

“I think we’ve been really starved for something like this,” St.

John said. “I hope it will be able to continue annually with the

Laguna Community Concert Band doing it.”

Reynolds and some of the band members noted it wouldn’t be

Oktoberfest without German food (American too), beer, wine and

dancing. There will be plenty of that they said. Reynolds encourages

people to join in the favorite “Chicken Dance.”

“It will be fun playing music, and we should have a real good turn

out,” community concert band Vice President Sheryl Caverly said. “The

music will be terrific.”

Oktoberfest will be from noon to 6 p.m. Oct. 24 at Tivoli Too, 777

Laguna Canyon Road. The event will happen rain or shine with shelter

set up, if it should rain. Tickets are $3 and children under 12 are

$2. For information, call (949) 499-9429.